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4/5 rDev +7.8%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a goblet a light golden with white one finger head that settles nicely leaving patches of lace behind,like some others I notice a real lavender presence in the aroma wich is soft and pleasant along with a touch clove/spice.Falvors up front are fruity and gummy if thats a word with a big,bold spiness really hitting late and in the finish I also noticed a toasty gran presence in the finish.In my mind another solid Avery brew a little out of the ordinary like alot of therie brews.

The nose is problematic. It seems off, wrong somehow. There is an immense amount of coriander in the nose but its not terribly pleasant. It seems like rotten coriander, the kind thats been sitting on the bottom of the vegetable tray in my fridge since burrito night 4 weeks ago. Some other kind of spice is really strong. It reminds me of Christmas but its not clove or cinnamon, perhaps its stale nutmeg? There is a lemon meringue pie quality too.

Taste/MF: hmm, spicy, spritzy chamomile, shit! Im fricking allergic to chamomile. I sure hope this flavor is coming from the hops or yeast. If chamomile was actually added to this beer, Im going to have one runny nose and swollen throat in a little bit. Ricola cough lemon-herb cough drops. Medicinal. Intense and bold but not right, definitely not my cup of tea. Seems stronger then it is.

Drinkability: Very Christmasy. Around the holidays this might go nicely but now? I want winter to be over with. I dont want to be reminded of it. Very odd.

Note: just read the label. There is chamomile in here. Better go take some anti-histamines before I pour the rest of this down the drain. Darn!

The Avery Tweleve Saison Ale pours into my glass a nice opaque golden yellow with a half inch of tight bubbly head on top. Aromas begin with a citrusy, fruity pale maltiness along with an very floral, spicy nose. Chamomile and lavender are both easily noticeable and really quite nice. A fresh, zesty yeast is there along with a touch of hops. The melding of citrusy scents with the floral and herbal scents works quite well here!

First sip brings a crisp, citric fruity wheat maltiness along with a rush of herbal spiciness. A collision of chamomile and lavender intermingle with a mellow peppery spiciness. The brew is a tad bit astringent on the way down with only a touch of hops and a lingering lemon zest. A subtle earthy yeast emerges as well. An interesting saison for sure. The herbs get a bit overbearing at times but overall it's a tasty brew.

Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with a nice amount of carbonation. Goes down easily with only a hint of alcohol. I think one bomber will be enough for me of this unqiue brew. Worth trying..but ultimately I don't see myself coming back to this one again. Yet another interesting creation by Avery.

Light, pale yellow body. Perfectly transparent. Poured with a solid pure white head on top which hung around until the bottom.

Offers a very unique aroma. Light malt characteristic with unique funk overtones. Some sour banana tones with lemon and straw notes as well. Taste is quite unique (I'm new to Saisons). Not as sharp in the spice category as some of the others I have had, but I do detect some pepper and gingerbread like spices in the very end. Main body is yeast bread with sour pear and apples notes. Nothing overpowering about the flavor, just unique.

Mouthfeel is light. It coats well but finishes clean and light. Drinkability is good due to the light flavor profile and mouthfeel.

Very complex aroma. As it warms the lavender comes through most. You can also get some citrus and wheat character. Pours a cloudy staw yellow with a pillowy white head. Not much up front in the flavor department, but it all catches you at the end. Wheaty smooth with some astringency, and tingly carbonation. Avery makes some damn fine beer.

On tap at the BTAH in NYC as part of their Saison event. I couldnt make it over there till saturday night, but I was pleased to see they had several selections still flowing, anyway I was happy to have the chance to sample this one on tap.

This is a sharp and zesty brew, more of the above spices picked up in the flavor profile. Can't say this is my favorite saison, needs to be toned down a notch or two. Needs more earthyness and less sharp spicing IMHO. Anyway would like to try the bottled version and allways nice to try another breweries try at saison.

Out of a bottle as I was pouring at American Beer Fest 2005, Boston, MA...

Light color, hazy to be sure, almost a gold color with little head but thick and leaving lots of laces. Aroma is monstrous in impact, both good and bad -- large amounts of spiciness that wander about the board but don't really hint at a Saison at all. Orangey, spicey flavors, bordering on straight medicinal with even a chalk on the chalkboard taste, along with tarragon (NoLiberty's description of a Thanksgiving dinner is interesting and fairly accurate, even a sage impression) and herbal tea. Low carbonation and lots of lingering thick aftertaste, as one drinker noticed, "like drinking incense". This beer is strictly a toss up, you can love it or not, lots of people did like it as different at ABF, but for me, it was easier pouring it than saying I want to drink it.

This beer pours a cloudy straw yellow color with a very thick white head. The head fades very slowly, leaving very thick laces.

This beer has a very floral aroma. I can detect a hoppy aroma. Also, it has a decent spicy aroma, with a good clovelike scent. It has a banana aroma that is quite pleasent.

The first thing I taste in this beer is bananas. Also, I taste the hops nicely. It has a very slight clovey flavor. Also, a slight citrus flavor is present.

This beer is highly carbonated, complimenting the flavor. It is very crisp and refreshing. It goes down smooth leaving a banana like aftertaste.

I think this beer would make a perfect session beer. The refreshing flavor really hits the spot. Also, since the alcohol content is not too terribly high, you can put back a few of them. This beer is great. I would definately have it again.

Pours a thin white head over a dark golden color. Head rapidly recedes, but leaves decent lace. Perfume like aromaspartly hops, but definitely spice too; coriander, not sure what else is in here. Sweet orange and lemon zest flavors combine with a honey-like sweetness. More of the perfume-like spices as well. Full-bodied for the style, low carbonation. Smooth and almost creamy in the mouth with a clean slightly drying finish.

The perfume charater is intriguing but a tad overpowering. The mouthfeel and body makes up for it though. A tasty, smooth and refreshing brew.

Pours a cloudy gold color with a one finger white head that recedes to a ring of bubbles that stick to the glass just above the beer. There's some decent lacing here too.

The smell is great. It's very pungent with an amalgamation of spices. It smells like there's nutmeg and traces of a lot of other things that I can't pin down. Very pleasing overall.

The taste was not quite as good as I expected from the smell. The spices are most prevalent, and then there's some banana-like flavor. There's also the tiniest bit of medically sterilized flavor, if that makes any sense.

The mouthfeel is alright, it's not too thick and pretty smooth. It could use just a little bit more carbonation maybe.

The drinkability is low just because of how intense the flavors are. This is certainly not a session beer.

Overall this beer is certainly worth a shot. It's one of the more unique Saisons I've tried.

Pours a pale golden straw with a fluffy white head. Not bad,but a little on the light side. The smell is pungent and I swear this smells like cinnamon toast. The aroma is very "bisquity" with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. The taste is crisp and like the smell has a strong cinnamon and bakery flavor. Lemon,honey and pepper are also present. The m/f is light with the flavors mixing well. A good tasting beer,but it's different from other Saisons. Different,but not bad.

Bomber into a Duvel tulip. Though this beer's retired, I still see it at many places, so I feel like reviewing it's still cool I suppose. Bottled in 2005.

Appearance: A hazy yellow body covered by a thick, yet quickly dissipating white head, leaving some round small clumps of lacing on the glass. I didn't pour the yeast, but it's still quite hazy, which I like a lot.

Smell: This is a year old, but wow the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon have come through a lot, and according to Avery these ingredients aren't even added. It almost, oddly enough, now smells like a pumpkin ale. Interesting to say the least. As it warms some sweet lemon peel comes through, along with some orange, slight camomile, mild Belgian yeast, and mild medicinal phenolic qualities. Sweet and aromatic stuff here.

Taste: Again, lots of spice, and though sweet it's also very balanced. Peppery yeast, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and heavy on the clove. I imagine a year's done quite a lot for the yeast. There's some nice Belgian yeast, and by the time the finish arrives it's long, sweet, and the flavorful citrus zest comes through to linger on the tongue with the spice. It's sweet, yes, and after a year I imagine that's why there's not a lot of hops going on, which is fine by me.

Mouthfeel: Both full-bodied and fully carbonated, which achieves quite a nice balance overall.

Drinkability: I wonder what this is like fresh, but Avery's done a lot of great things with their big beers, and I think this is one of them. Unfortunately, if this one's retired, I may need to find a few more bottles and keep this in the cellar, as I could see some really wild things happening in a few years.

Shiny gold, until the yeast pour dulls it and turns it matte yellow. The large-pocked head endures a a milky froth.
Flourescent lemon scented, with a mentholated backing. A honeyed herbal pang bubbles up near the rear.
Begins with a frosted wheat, squeaking out lemons and hulls. It congeals into a much brighter sense of citrus, as lemon peels, sugared oranges, and lime leaves are manifest. Frought with spun sugar, it teeters on candy sweet. I've never been a stanch supporter of Grains of Paradise, but they are used harmoniously here. Like a liquid lemon drop. Yeast adds a congruent sense of angelfood. The close features additional lemony bitter yearnings, as it ventures more herbal, with eucalyptus, cilantro, and thyme, traced with blossoms of lilac.
Medium-fat build, with a small-grained rising carbonation. It's not truly obese, but it should hit the gym more. A certainly chunky version, even if alcohol is largely masked outside a gin-like fume or two.
If you want a juicier, junk-in-the-trunk American-interpertation of a Witbier, this is your pick. Likewise if you want fluid lemon candy. But if you're looking for something that is peer to Fantome or DuPont...um, not so much. Then this is just too false seeming.
I can't pan this too much, because once the lemonicity is acclimated to, it's pretty tasty, and would pair well with selct foods, especially Mexican (it simply pleads for a lime and cilantro salsa).
This is the pick of the litter as far as Avery's Belgian-styled brews go.
Certainly worth a whirl, as long as one downplays any true farmhouse, saisony standards. Brace yourself for a liquid Lemonhead instead.

fragrant. Generous sized soapy bubble head and lace in glass, light coloured body.More like a biere de garde than a saison in taste. Coriander, honeyish, herbal grassy, lemon, ginger, pepper.. Good enough but not all that tasty, more like one of these yoga teas. Thanks Tupalev.

This brilliant saison pours a slightly hazy yellow-gold body that displays streams of quick-moving bubbles rising to help support it's billowing frothy white head. It holds quie well, and eventually drops to a thin surface covering; leaving behond some initial, wide splashes of lace.

The nose is quite lemony and sweet with a delicate coriander side that leaves it very floral.

It's effervescence lightly bristles the tongue before it warms to become cottony, and it's dextrinous medium-light body slides smoothly away.

The flavor is very much as the aroma indicates with more sweetness to the malt and some additional depth (grassy/floral hops, honeyish notes). The hop bitterness is clearly intended to be low-key, and the spicinesss and alcohol help to balance it. It finishes with some lingering, sweet lemon and orange peel and delicate spice (coriander, and perhaps cardamom).

Avery had delivered a very enjoyable, unique, and drinkable 'strong' saison that's bright with citrus and spice. It's a bit over-spiced, perhaps, but very nicely balanced; and the alcohol is restrained as well, barely showing its 7.6%. Nicely done!

Golden color with a little haze and a white fluffy head. Good head and decent lacing.

The taste and smell of are of very spicy and almost floral malt sweetness. Almost too spicey for a saison at first, but I got used to it and enjoyed. I would also argue it lacks balance as the hops and spice flavor is a little too overpowering. Ends with a pleasant bitter note.

Fairly good drinkability. I nursed mine through dinner and enjoyed it but had no need for a second bottle.

Overall, this is what I'd call an "American-ized" style. Start with a delicate style, beef up the recipe and end up with something much stronger on your palate. Thus, the American saison in this case. Lacked the overall sublety of saisons, but it was still a tasty brew.

Very lightly hazy was this beer filtered? There is ample animation racing through the shiny golden-hay colored liquid. The head was massive, white in color, at the apex the foam was almost three fingers in height. It had decent head retention; it slowly subsided to a half-finger of ugly, clumpy foam. Lacing started before I took my first sip. The brightness of the beer and froth adds a warm feeling to the appearance but is this beer really a Saison? There was plenty of sticky subsequent lacing. Overall, this beer looks well enough.

The nose is airy with a fat marshmallow underbelly that dances with fresh cut hay, wildflowers; the orchards are in bloom. Apples. Dry graininess lingers to the end, as does a medley of spices. The nose seems more like a baby Wit and not a Saison of over 7% alcohol. No traces of alcohol. The bouquet isnt rich, not much impressionable malt or hops. It is not very dirty. I like dirty Saisons. I like Wits too. Overall, the nose is nice and I mean nice as in polite. Avery went Mr. Rodgers on me? Light potency, nevertheless it is inviting just not astonishing.

WTF? The palate is much more developed and very damn flavorful. The nose didnt say any of this. There is big, bold spiciness. Like a Wit! It is so spicing it is biting. This beer would be murder with Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy oh yeah! That would be a magical combination methinks. Toasty grains, dried flowers, and bread crumbs are secondary notes to the spiciness. I dont really taste the alcohol, which is good but I can feel it in my belly. The palate has restrained aggression. I wish there was more pronounced bitterness and hoppy flavors (they do supply some earthiness, hay, and a kiss of citrus). The sweetness lingers at the finish. Juicy, fruity aftertaste lovely but more Wit-like than Saison. The palate is well-constructed, it does lack a little here and there but when everything is added up, it is equals a tasty beer.

The mouthfeel is sturdy but relaxing, low carbonation, the tiny bubbles are playful. It is slightly on the soft side for me but the mouthfeel does work well with the flavor profile.

Okay, this beer is drinkable but it is a tickle sweet for me to fly solo. The right food and Twelve could equal a good combination. BTW, I dont think this beer is a Saison, it is a big Wit. It a good drink nevertheless. I purchased my bottle in Boulder, CO.

Paid 4.99 for a 22 oz. bottle. Beautiful straw gold with a nice white foamy head that stays. Smells of the spices and herbs listed on the bottle - chamomile and lavender, almost non-beer, but with enough hops and malt to maintain itself. Sweet taste, lavender is noticeable. Hops there as well, along with the belgian yeast. Understandably floral. Slight bubblegum. A bit winey in the feel, but this actually plays into this beer rather well. Drinkability is high provided you like this type of beer - not a session beer for me, but it will definitely motivate me to try other saisons.

Presentation: Poured from a 22oz brown bomber into a Duvel snifter. The label simply says ale brewed with spices.

Appearance: Pours with a 2 inch white and foamy head. This and almost oily in its consistency. This settles slowly in to a 1/4 inch layer of foam and leaves behind a lot of Belgian lacing. The beer itself is a nice apricot color, with a slight haziness.

Taste: Spicy, almost overpowering. Both aspects of orange are here, the sweet flaovr and the bitterness associated with the rind. After the spiciness fades, there is an undertone of wheat tang. A very, very slight hop nitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Average level of carbonation. Body is good.

Drinkability: The spices int hsi one are almost too much. They border on overpowering, not too sure that I would want another one of these.

Poured a very cloudy light orange color with a thick pillowy head with good retention and lacing.

Smell is very full, lots of herbal spices with ginger and lemon being very strong and hints of pepper as well as a bit of floral hops.

The taste is full of spices, mostly ginger, cinamon, clove, and pepper. Strong citrus flavors and some banana are also present with a nice bit of orange and lemon along with a strong alcohol taste and some hop flavors as well. Taste seems to have to much going on.

Pours a cloudy (with yeast, fairly clear w/o) golden color with a good pure white head that left some rings of lacing as it dissipated. The smell is very unlike any other saison that I have had. It has a strong aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon. Perhaps the lavendar they use is creating some of these aromas. The taste is very similar, very strong on the cinnamon and nutmeg. This is like a blonde pumpkin ale. Besides those 2 spices, the brew has floral and honey notes, a sweet Belgian pale malt (candi sugar?). No real earthy or funky qualities to this. No bittering hops or tart apple flavors, basically nothing to control the sweetness of the brew. The feel is fairly light with light carbonation, definitely finishes sweet, though not sticky or slick. Definitely a different take of a saison. Definitely a spicy brew, just not the spices that I expected. This is a good flavorful brew but doesn't hit the saison mark.